Following the release last year of former FBI director Louis Freeh's report, Knight issued a statement saying he was saddened that Paterno apparently made missteps that led to "heartbreaking consequences."

But Knight now says that he may have jumped to conclusions, after a new critique that was commissioned by the Paterno family and carried out by experts that included Dick Thornburgh, a former U.S. attorney general and governor of Pennsylvania.

In a statement released Monday, Knight called the findings of the Freeh report unjustified and unsubstantiated. He also criticized the NCAA's subsequent sanctions on Penn State's football program as unwarranted.